[Raf]

I thought we had already established that in this case the button was the release button? Not to be confused with the button on some other early wheelocks which is used to manually push the sear into the wheel slot . Also that the small wing nut forward of the button has the dual function of ensuring the sear fully enters the wheel slot and also functions as a safety. The wheel cannot turn until this nut is unscrewed.
The shape of the cam on the base of the dog is unusual . But might be transitional towards locks where the dog, at rest, can be folded down below the line of the barrel . This can be seen on Leeds Armoury X11 1566 . C 1535.This feature is found on some , but not all , locks with sickle - shaped springs but then seems to have been abandoned in favour of a more conventional arrangement where the dog , at rest , lyes roughly in line with the barrel . Locks that may be equally early show a flat spring and a conventional over- centre cam on the base of the dog.